The Blanketfort (crying and throwing up) - The Official Solas Thread [Spoilers]

It's not great, but it could have been worse. We can get her a happy ending and undo the legacy of TME.


No, I just despise the plot idea for undoing the Veil and restoring Elvhenan being the villain's plot. Although that story separation didn't help.


Yes, that's what we in the business refer to as a "joke." It's just ordinary gross incompetence. See also: Celene looking twenty years too old, Loghain looking twenty years too young, Alistair looking like a vampire attack victim, et al.

Well yeah, it's circular because you keep missing my point :/ Also, whether you're separating marquis' or sergeant's point of views doesn't really matter, since both just assume that these are some kind of weird Dalish based on very limited knowledge about them, not enough to tell us whether those were really Dalish or not.

Sorry, it kinda sounded like you're implying that we haven't yet played non-Andrastian in DA.

And a chance to play a non-Andrastian in DA4 is high, considering we're moving to Tevinter, which is ostensibly NOT Andrastian. Most do believe in the Maker though. Still, we don't know who specifically we're going to play, and it's not even certain we're going to play Vints.

Either way, while I think we're going to see way more ancient elves this time around, I don't really think we'd be playing the Tirashan ones - they are portrayed as quite sinister, what with attacking people for no discernible reason, offering them to their gods, having 'cold eyes' and laughing as they leave.

I'm not assuming anything - Leliana specifically tells us that they're quite like Sentinels. The elves from ancient Elvenhan also don't look AS different as modern elves to immediately spot the difference. If such was the case, Solas could have never pulled his 'just your usual apostate hobo' stunt and and Felassan could have never pretended that he's Dalish, especially for as long as he does it. The elven spy of Solas in Winter Palace also doesn't look too different, aside from a peculiar accent that gives her away as someone who's definitely not local - but that's nothing that comes across when you're looking at her.

So I'm not sure why you're making it a big deal to underline that the sergeant didn't go in depth to note that they either look different or not, when most they paid attention to when they were fighting was that they had vallaslin (a distinctly Dalish feature in eyes of modern Thedosians) and that they were utterly hostile.

And I'm assuming that the Trespasser reports automatically mean they're talking about elves from TLC, because it'd make no sense for them to go out of their way to mention them out of the complete blue if they weren't. Add to that the fact that TLC makes a BIG DEAL out of the fact that Tirashan is absurdly magical and holds many secrets, so whatever is hiding there, it's not small. Either way, both things seem connected.

I also played the game enough I know that attacks of elves occur frequently, so it's quite unlikely for people to the game and never experience them.

That's just your opinion on the matter, not a showcase of 'gross incompetence'.

True, it could be a deliberate stylistic choice to have returning characters look nothing like they did before; I'm not quite sure why that would be the case, though.

No, it's me pointing out that they follow another Andrastian Chantry.



They attack people living on the fringe of Serault, and they are possibly lashing out at people who may be encroaching on their camp.

An "Andrastian Chantry" that doesn't follow Andraste... Right. Dropping that.

What does it have to do with the argument? The argument now is that whether you choose to attack them or not, the attack on the people happens either way - not what locals assume what it is about.

Viewing a figure that is fundamental for one faith as "just a powerful mage" is a complete game-changer. Like I said - that's like saying that Islam is a Christian denomination. Both religions drifted too far apart to be called a subset of either, especially when one of them rejects the central figure of another.

So no - Vints aren't Andrastian. Most of them at least. Though we don't even know whether we'd be playing many of them - not that it matters, considering that last game we had a choice of PC's from whom only one was officially Andrastian, even though the protagonist can become a central figure of the Southern faith, lol. It's the kind of irony I like - and considering that BW seems to share my particular taste for irony, I'd expect a lot of it in future title.

Your point does nothing to counter my argument, because whether we attack them doesn't matter - they're the ones who do it first. We can do nothing to provoke the attack, no quest or choice we pick triggers it, even if people are wondering whether they got too close of to their camp or whatever: they attack *no matter* what you do before and *no matter* what you choose to do with them after they appear.

I... actually stopped talking about Andrastians at large and focused on a different issue in paragraph you adressed, but it's like no attention was paid to that

That makes no sense. I feel like there's either some sort of communication issue, or this is an elaborate case of mental gymnastics to try and split the hair on 16 parts.

No, an "argument would not necessitate that we're debating some aspect of the story" - since when discussing anything that is not specifically part of the story 'not an argument', or 'not a debate'? Especially that we're specifically focused on meta in this part: which is the occurrence of certain event in the game no matter of actions of the player before or after, which is what the elven attack does, considering the frequency it occurs.

And yes - you "pointing out" whatever you point out is an argument to support your case or a counterargument to pick apart mine. I'm not sure why you're so determined to try and explain to me that you "pointing out" something is "not an argument" - unless you understand argument only as an angry exchange of opinions, rather than a set of reasons to support whatever you're talking about... I mean, I thought it's quite clear that I do mean the latter. I feel this requires a clarification to prevent any misunderstandings in the future.

Either way it's done. There's nothing really that can be squeezed out of this.

My first thought while reading your post was that he was refering to the blight and its magic, because I can easily imagine him trying to make the other Evanuris understand the danger it posed and being ignored, but why would he acquired any privileged knowledge about it n the fade? I can definitely seem him being in favour of spreading knowledge, in general, and opposing because of it a god of secrets, and it's clear that there's a particularly strong rivalry between them.

That said, I can imagine Solas supporting absolutely any cause that he happen to come across For me that's probably the main trait of the character, he's an idealist and he's passionate, he seems to be looking everywhere around him for things that could be better and is always ready to work to materialize those ideals. I said this once before, I think this part of his personality is in fact intrinsically related to his love of the fade and dreams, and it's ike the other side of his passion for knowledge, as if he was always trying to understand how things really are only to make them better. But, well, maybe I' not being very objective here , it's just the way I see him and I love that about him 

Well... Solas does mention war that happened way before Evanuris even become Evanuris - and we can't rule out that he participated in it in some way. We do find those ancient statues of Fen'Harel guarding Mythal that appear to be from earlier period (the statue of abstract bird or dragon has 2 prongs instead of 7 or 8 that we find in other spots), so we may even assume that he helped Evanuris establish themselves as rulers.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was eventually what caused him to feel most betrayed and bitter, about friends, groups or organizations. After all it was a group/organization that has a profound impact on how things were and went and affected entire known world. And we don't even know to what extent he helped them - was it just at a beginning? Was he simply Mythal's henchman, or perhaps he was more instrumental than that - perhaps it's what he's found out that either helped them defeat whatever they were fighting (Titans? I mean, we do see a mural on which Solas does something to a Titan), perhaps he's found something that helped Evanuris become powerful? Did they just take what benefit them and dismissed Solas when he tried to tell them something they didn't want to hear?

We just don't know. The only thing that is certain is that whatever happened has left him scarred. And we can't even rule out that he didn't do anything beyond that - after all there are mentions in the lore about him being kin with both Forgotten Ones and Creators; then there's a suspicious amount of stuff - especially around Ferelden - that keeps ostensibly focusing on wolves (and how wolves were replaced by dogs, only to chase away the wolf); so we can't even rule out that Solas actually tried to get himself involved while slumbering and in the Fade already.

While I have no doubt that he's not a fan of Falon'Din, I think it may be to early to say what either him or the rest of Evanuris have done.

I'm also not sure we can say that "Falon'Din claimed sovereignty over Fade" - especially that Fade ain't really a place, but an esoteric element of the world. Plus, I think Falon'Din may have something to do with secrets of the Void rather than whole of Fade, IMO.

I'm curious, what do you mean?

I mostly mean what Falon'Din and Fade are generally associated with:

Falon'Din - death, night and shadows (already I imagine him as goth!Evanuris of the bunch)

Fade - air and sky (oftentimes songs/melody too), something breezy and light

Even more so, a Song to Falon'Din has these verses:

Lethanavir, master-scryer, be our guide,
Through shapeless worlds and airless skies

That IMO is sort of the biggest hint so far - if the Fade is thought of as being the 'air', then his 'airless' domain (or places he's capable to guide people through) can't be the Fade.

Or at least not the whole of it - we do know that there are areas or aspects of the Fade (though some sources claim that it's in all of things) that are called the Void, and that place is generally thought of across various religions as nothingness, which 'shapeless worlds' and 'airless skies' fit quite well.

Heck, the Void for Adrastians is basically an equivalent of our hell - but also apparently where the 'well of souls/life' is.

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls.
From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.
Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.
In my arms lies Eternity.

I assume that's why Solas mentions the Void when he tells us that there are stirrings in it after his friend's death. Big clue - this is likely where spirits (and souls?) go when they get destroyed, but also where they get reborn or reforged.

If such is the case, then it makes perfect sense for Falon'Din to be the lord of death whose domain is the Void - guiding people to that strange, dark place where everything ends, and likely begins anew.

That also makes him quite goddamn important - at least in terms of function in the realm. That is of course if we assume that he didn't just usurp his power or position as the guide and exploited the whole thing to unknown ends.

IMO? The Void is one of those places which is important to the world, but also one that is dangerous - in fact we do have good basis to claim it's dangerous, if we assume that codex about Andrul speaks things that are accurate:

She began stalking The Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss. Yet even a god should not linger there, and each time she entered the Void, Andruil suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning.
Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn.

That sounds more than spooky. Another interesting thing is that it's mentioned that Void is apparently a place the Forgotten Ones dwell - and as we know at one point or another Solas was thought of as kin both by Evanuris and Forgotten Ones. So he knows the Void (based on both this and his personal quest), yet apparently it doesn't pose the danger to him as much as it does to Andruil. Maybe it's almost a situation like the one with demons: if he knows its nature and brings no corrupting influences, the the Void will not become twisted or twist the one who enters it.

Either way, it's highly possible that both he and Falon'Din knows a safe way to either cross or enter it.

But - probably unlike Solas - Falon'Din likely sought something in the Void that should probably be left alone or did something that has disturbed the general balance. It's a far fetched assumption, but I really wouldn't be surprised if such was the case. Because while the Void is obviously characterized as dangerous and shapeless, it's probably not just a straightforward 'evil realm', while we do know from both records in the world and Solas's comments that Falon'Din wasn't exactly made of sugar, spice and everything nice